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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · capital · scale · rush · press · spring · land · clip

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. court — of law
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. capital — a city
  7. press — a publisher
  8. court — of a king
  9. spring — the season
  10. capital — money
  11. land — to come down
  12. press — to push
  13. clip — to cut
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. rush — hurry
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — newspapers
  18. spring — a coil
  19. court — for sport
  20. land — ground
  21. clip — for paper
  22. land — a country
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com